Hay pelleter



Aug. 18, 1964 J. w. CRANE 3,144,840

HAY PELLETER Filed June 20, 1963 7 v. INVEN TOR.

W K w. CRANE AGENT United States Patent Delaware Filed June 20, 1963, Ser. No. 289,288 3 Claims. ((31. 107-14) This is an improvement invention in the field of ring die feed pelleting machines. Such machines are commonly used for reducing to pellet or wafer form feed such as hay and grain for the consumption of live stock. Specifically my invention is an improvement of the machine of my pending patent application S.N. 156,360, filed December 1, 1961.

The invention consists firs'tly in improved means for power driving the co-acting rolls of the ring die of the machine independently of driving engagement with the ring per se or with the infed material, and secondly in means to prevent the infed material from interfering with the improved independent power drive for the rolls.

More fully stated instead of constituting the roll surfaces hybrid driving teeth in driving engagement with the axially extending walls of the die throats and entering the mouths of the dies, I use a ring gear external to the ring die; equip each roller with gear teeth external to the roll surface and in mesh with the ring die; and provide gear sealing means in the form of guard plates between the gears and the infeed means.

Through these means standard gear tooth construction may be used so ensuring a smoother, quieter, and more efficient application of independent power drive for the rolls with accompanying greater durability; together with a more efficient roll action irrespective of the nature of the roll surface; and freedom from machine stoppages due either to feed jamming or feed interference with the roll driving means.

The accompanying drawings delineate my invention as follows:

FIG. 1 shows the machine in a transaxial section very approximately on line 1-1 of FIG. 2; while FIG. 2 shows it in axial section very approximately on line 22 of FIG. 1, except that the inner roll support is broken away at its upper end and the upper of the two rolls shown in the drawings is shown in phantom-to render visible more details of the gear sealing means, and the front or power driving end of the machine is not shown.

Referring in detail to the drawings the ring die is designated and the coacting two rolls are designated 11. As shown the die is composite, being comprised of a nest of dies such as 14 composed of axial and transaxial partition members 16 and 18 clamped together between the front (infeed side) plate 20 and the rear plate 22 by throughbolts 23 and 24. The rolls 11 are shown as smooth faced cylinders borne by roller bearings 12 on roll core members 13 supported by bearing arms 25 and 26 which are fixed upon power shaft 28 to be revolved thereby in substantial tangency to the inner periphery of ring die 10. Shaft 28 is borne at its rear end by an anti-friction bearing 30 and bushing 31 carried in a spider or head 29 clamped to the rear of the ring die by the inner through-bolts 23. It is home and driven at its front or infeed end by suitable bearing and driving means, not shown here, but shown fully in my above mentioned application. The infeed means is comprised of auger flights 32 borne on a cylinder 34 carried from shaft 28 as shown in the aforesaid application and revolved by it with the rolls 11. The auger cylinder 34 is provided with portions 36 which enter the ring dies 10 between the rolls 11 and provide smooth guided entry of the feed to the ring die in the spaces between the rolls.

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My improved independent power drive for the rolls consists of ring gear 38 clamped to the rear face of the rear die ring plate 22 between the bearing spider 29 and the plate by the same through-bolts 23 which secure shaft bearing spider 29 in place; and meshing roll gears 40 formed in one piece with the rolls 11 and inboard of the rear roll support arm 26. The gears are respectively concentric with the elements with which they are connected, they lie in a transaxial plane externally of these elements, and on their rear sides, the sides opposite to the infeed means 32, 34, 36. The pitch circle of the ring gear 38 in the construction illustrated is of a diameter approximating the internal diameter of the die ring.

The sealing means for the gears comprises annular grooves 42 and 44 in a common transverse plane and respectively radially inwardly and radially outwardly facing, between the respective gears and the elements mounting them, together with an annular series of transaxially extending partially segmented plates 46 each of the same pattern, carried by the infeed means and having the arcuate portions of their peripheries entered in the grooves. These plates are detachably secured by bolts 48 to sector shaped head pieces 50 welded or otherwise secured to the inner or rear ends of projections 36 from auger cylinder 34. Being detachable separately the peripheries of segments 40 can readily be entered in the grooves. The peripheral portions so entered are concentric with the grooves they enter and are fitted sufficiently closely in the grooves to keep out infed material but not so closely as to retard rotation.

The manner in which the advantages I set forth in the preamble are realized is, I believe, made clear from the foregoing detailed description. There are some other advantages, such for example, as being able to contour the active surfaces of the rolls in any manner desired, even a tooth-like contour such as shown in my aforesaid patent application and which will enable compression surfaces to enter into the mouths of the die more efiiciently and without contact with the die walls; and in further example the changing of roll rpm. and hence relative slip of rolls and ring die by simply changing the gear ratio. This latter may be of advantage in pelleting certain materials. In every case the gear teeth may be of any preferred standard form and in every case too the gears will be sealed off from the feed material being acted upon by the machine.

My invention is obviously applicable to all types of ring die machines irrespective of whether the independent power drive be derived from a stationary die ring or from a rotated die ring, or in part by direct application of power to the ring die or rolls or both together, etc. The geared interlock between the ring die and the rolls and the sealing of the gears will in such cases be achieved by constructions equivalent to those I have described.

Yet other modifications and adaptations are possible within the generic spirit of my invention. All such are intended to be protected to me by the annexed claims.

What I claim is:

1. A machine of the character desribed embodying a ring die and co-acting rollers, a ring gear connected with said ring die externally of and concentric therewith, roll driving gears external to the rolls, concentric therewith and meshing with the ring gear, feeding means moving feed material into said ring die on one side thereof, said roll driving gears being located in a transaxial plane on the opposite side of said ring die from said feeding means, said feeding means comprising an auger flight and a mounting cylinder therefor, which latter has terminal portions projecting into the ring die in the spaces between the rolls, and gear sealing means between said feeding means and said gears and carried from said projecting portions of the cylinder.

2. A machine of the character described embodying a ring die and co-acting rollers, a ring gear connected with said ring die externally of and concentric therewith, roll driving gears external to the rolls, concentric therewith ing portions of their peripheries entered into said grooves.

3. A machine according to claim 1 in which the ring die is a transaxially composite structure bound together by axially extending through bolts, and the ring gear is com and meshing with the ring gear, feeding means moving 5 nected to the ring die by the same through-bolts.

feed material into said ring die on one side thereof, said roll driving gears being located in a transaxial plane on the opposite side of said ring die from said feed means, an inwardly facing annular groove being provided in the ring gear between the ring gear and the ring die, outwardly facing grooves being provided in the rolls between the roll gear and the rolls, and gear sealing means between said feeding means and said gears and comprising an annular series of transaxial segment-like plates each separately detachably secured to said feeding means and hav- 15 References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,238,981 Barton Sept. 4, 1917 2,144,054 Hall Jan. 17, 1939 2,757,621 Johnson Aug. 7, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 613,028 Germany May 10, 1935 

1. A MACHINE OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED EMBODYING A RING DIE AND CO-ACTING ROLLERS, A RING GEAR CONNECTED WITH SAID RING DIE EXTERNALLY OF AND CONCENTRIC THEREWITH, ROLL DRIVING GEARS EXTERNAL TO THE ROLLS, CONCENTRIC THEREWITH AND MESHING WITH THE RING GEAR, FEEDING MEANS MOVING FEED MATERIAL INTO SAID RING DIE ON ONE SIDE THEREOF, SAID ROLL DRIVING GEARS BEING LOCATED IN A TRANSAXIAL PLANE ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF SAID RING DIE FROM SAID FEEDING MEANS, SAID FEEDING MEANS COMPRISING AN AUGER FLIGHT AND A MOUNTING CYLINDER THEREFOR, WHICH LATTER HAS TERMINAL PORTIONS PROJECTING INTO THE RING DIE IN THE SPACES BETWEEN 